Tag Archives: St George

Atkinville

01 Saturday Aug 2026

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Atkinville

William Atkin and Rachel Thompson were both raised in Rutlandshire, England. They joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, married, and sailed from Liverpool, England, in February of 1855 on the ship Siddons. Three months later they arrived in the port of Philadelphia. On June 9, 1859, they joined the trek to the Salt Lake Valley with the George Rowley Handcart Company, reaching Salt Lake City in November 1859. Nine years later they answered a call to move to an area eight miles south of St. George, Utah, which became known as Atkinville. Their 160 acres of uninhabited, fertile land was located on the east bank of the Virgin River. They cleared the land and built three large limestone homes, corrals, a granary, and chicken coops for their growing family while cultivating the surrounding soil.

Atkinville is remembered as a sanctuary for Wilford Woodruff who served as an apostle and later President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Atkinville was the headquarters of the Church for a time. Wilford Woodruff became very close to the Atkin family and enjoyed hunting and fishing on their property.

William Atkin passed away May 22, 1900; his wife, Rachel, followed him in death on June 8, 1903. A major flood destroyed Atkinville in 1906. A three-quarter replica of the limestone home is in This Is The Place Heritage Park in Salt Lake City. Atkinville has been renamed SunRiver St. George.

This is Daughters of Utah Pioneers historic Marker #591 (see other D.U.P. Markers here) erected by the Atkinville Camp in 2021 at Atkinville Wash Park at 1211 West Copeland Drive in Saint George, Utah

St George Founders

25 Sunday Oct 2020

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Late in the year 1861 there arrived in this area 308 families assigned by Brigham Young and other leaders of the Mormon Church for the purpose of raising cotton and other tropical plants, previous experimentation at Washington, to the east of the black ridge, and at Bloomington at the bottom of the west black ridge had proved that cotton could mature. This group of hardy pioneers arrived during what was known as the winter of the big rain, towns on the streams were damaged and farmlands on the bank were washed away, there was no immediate damage to this area however.

Irrigation and culinary water was provided from springs located at each end of this red hill.

The people drew for lots and on Jan. 23, 1862 they moved onto them from their tent city east of Dixie College.

The thriving community you see below (including tabernacle, courthouse – 1871 and temple – 1877 ) is proof of their faith and determination.

This historic marker was erected overlooking the city of St George in 1984.

Green Valley, Utah

28 Tuesday Apr 2020

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History from wchsutah.org

Green Valley is an area in the west side of St. George, Utah.

Green Valley was created out of Bill & Ron Snow’s six hundred acre ranch. The land was acquired and annexed into the City of St. George in 1976. Alan Coombs was the developer and driving force behind this new venture.

An 80-lot subdivision called the “Estates at Green Valley” was the first development in the Green Valley area. The sales of these lots provided the funds to develop “The Park at Green Valley”.

The Park opened in 1978 and had many firsts for St. George. It was a turning point for home building in the area. In addition to high quality homes, The Park came with an owners association, clubhouse, swimming pool, weight room, racquetball courts, and tennis courts.

In 1981, The Sports Village was opened with affordable vacation homes. 280 of these homes were purchased in the next two years.

The most ambitious development in Green Valley was started in 1985. Las Palmas was to have 1,000 deluxe condominiums, a 1,000 sq. ft. Sports & Fitness Center, 50 tennis courts (including grass and clay courts), an Olympic size pool, a golf teaching center, and spa. The project was interrupted when the government put some severe restrictions on condominium financing. But eventually the restrictions were lifted and sales in Las Palmas improved. It took six years, but eventually 300 units were sold.

During the downtime in the Las Palmas project (1989), a development called “The Cottages” was built using some of the land originally intended for Las Palmas. 95 single family townhomes with a nostalgic cottage design were built and sold.

Also starting in 1989, unsold condominiums in Las Palmas were rented out to weekend and over night guests. A property management and hotel operation was set up and began promoting Green Valley as an upscale alternative to the downtown motels. The completed swimming pools and tennis courts helped to make Green Valley a popular place to stay and was beneficial to sales by adding a resort atmosphere and providing rental income to condominium owners.

The developer’s wife, Carole Coombs, had owned a popular day spa in Salt Lake, Bel Viso. She set up a spa for owners and renters. Green Valley’s reputation began to grow as a spa retreat. In the spring of 1998, the spa was outgrowing the existing facilities. The Green Valley Spa was built with 35 separate hotel suites, a new restaurant, weight room, aerobic rooms, treatment center, and indoor tennis courts. Two years later, the success of the spa required the construction of 11 additional grand suites.